Travel medicine, travel-related diseases and required vaccines

Abstract

Introduction. Tourism is an important socioeconomic phenomenon in continuous development. Every traveler is exposed to nearly all infectious risks which may occur during his travel time. Some of the main risk factors can be temperature, water quality, high humidity and the exposure to multi-resistant microorganisms. However, studies suggest that very few people seek health advice prior to travel. Aim of the study. This study was conducted to determine the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices of medical students in the field of travel medicine. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted between October and November 2019, using a self-administered questionnaire. The 345 students who took part in this study were enrolled in 5th or 6th year of general medicine program, in different medical centers from Romania and they have traveled abroad at least once in their lifetime. The data were analyzed using the statistical program SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). We used the Chi square test to identify differences in knowledge, attitudes and practices between students. Differences with a value of p ≤ 0.05 were considered statistically significant.Results. 96.2% seek information related to the travel destination, but the health field occupies only 6.2% of the respondents' interest. 55.7% do not seek information on infectious diseases related to the visited-region, the main reason being the conviction that they are not at risk of contracting a disease during the trip. 44.3% sought such information, the main source being the internet.64.7% believe that vaccines provide basic protection, 29.1% that they are safe, 4.9% consider they are not needed, and 1.2% believe they have adverse effects. Both vaccinated and unvaccinated respondents feel they should be more informed about the health risks associated with their travel destination. Conclusions. This study has shown an inadequate level of medical students knowledge and poor utilization of travel medicine services. Those who have received advice on minimizing health risks during travel, including the risk for infectious diseases, and the opportunity for relevant vaccination and chemoprophylaxis, tend to practice more frequently preventive measures prior to an international travel. This study recommends the development of a wellstructured travel medicine service with the needed educational promotional strategy.